


can't forget you

by laurelsalexis



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-27
Updated: 2018-05-27
Packaged: 2019-05-14 06:06:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14764064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laurelsalexis/pseuds/laurelsalexis
Summary: She's never been prepared for the day she has to see F.P. again. Certainly not when he has a family of his own.





	can't forget you

When Fred Andrews moves in, on  _her_ street, Alice immediately knows that being able to hide from her past is something she can no longer do. No matter how much she wants to. She’s spent her time since high school, since  _Charles_ , doing her best to carve a whole new identity for herself.

It’s not long before she catches a glimpse of F.P. standing on the opposite side of the street talking to Fred and Mary, while their young boys play together in the front yard. 

His son, whom she will only later learn is named after F.P. himself,  _figures_ , reminds her of a young F.P. Back when things were not so complicated, but far worse. Oh, she knows that things were so much worse as she pulls the curtain back, leaving her alone in her house. 

Months after seeing him for the first time Betty runs back into the house, tracking mud all over the floor, earning a stern scolding that would make her mother-in-law proud, only to not care as she talks about her new friend, Jughead. She’s grown close with Archie since the moment he moved in, but Jughead is a new addition to their little friend group. 

It’s only when Jughead is playing in her very own backyard with Polly, Archie, and Betty does she take notice of how much like F.P. he isn’t. She’s thankful for that and hopes he truly does take after his mother. 

No matter how unfair that is.

It also never stops her from wondering where their son is, what he looks like, and if he takes after either he or Alice at all. She hopes he’s happy and found himself a family that will love him. 

Hal would never love him and for that, she think he’s better off somewhere else. She never lets herself think about what F.P. would think about their son or if he would be a good dad, love him. The answer is right in front of her as Jughead only ever says good things about his father.

She doesn’t need more reasons to feel the ache in her chest about her lost son.

She knows that F.P. is married. She cons the information out of Fred in a not so subtle conversation one afternoon. To a girl named Gladys, one that definitely didn’t go to school with them, and one that defies everything she thought the moment she sets eyes on her. 

She’s pretty. Doesn’t expect anything less with F.P. Younger than she thought, though. Hardly someone who would be a mother to a nearly five year old boy. Gladys smiles as she talks with Mary and kneels down into the dirt with both of the boys, getting messy, and staining the knees of her jeans green. She winds up rolling around the ground with both Jughead and Archie climbing every which way all over her and the laughter can be heard even from where she stands, hidden from the view of her neighbors. 

When F.P. pulls up with Fred and kisses his wife, a bright smile on his face, she closes the curtain and decides to keep to herself. 

His life is none of her business anyway.

She manages to stick to that until the kids start kindergarten. It’s not as if there are a ton of schools in Riverdale so them ending up at the same one is not surprising. They all end up in the same class, as well. 

Alice thinks that is some kind of karmic punishment. 

A surprise hits her a few weeks into the school year. She rarely ever stays to see F.P. or Gladys pick up Jughead, so when she does see Gladys walking towards where a few of the other parents are waiting she nearly has to do a double take.

Not because of Gladys, but because she is so very clearly pregnant.

Good for her, for  _them_. 

It’s silly to feel taken aback and have to swallow down any feelings. She has their son in her house at least once a week. It’s not as if she thinks they stole the child from somewhere else. 

She hates it makes her think of Charles. Their baby boy that she heard cry and was promptly taken away from her. She won’t think of how utterly alone she was for the birth and Gladys has F.P. to be there right by her side. 

She won’t think of the late nights their new baby will keep them up and how she never got that with her son. 

She could have told the truth. She could have told F.P. it was his son and they could have figured out. Who knows where they would have been. Probably in Riverdale, probably in the Southside, probably still lost in the mess known as the Serpents. 

When Betty runs up to her she leaves without thinking such a thought about it. 

* * *

Pregnant Gladys feels as if she is everywhere, even if she isn’t. She spends as much time with Mary as she normally does. She still plays with the boys outside, but not nearly as rough. 

But it’s not when she’s across the street that reminds her so much of what she’s never had, will never have. It’s when she’s late from working on a story and Gladys is the one who brings her girls home, after spending time at Pop’s. 

She has Mary with her but it’s not Mary she is focusing on.

Alice has to swallow back any emotion as she stands there. She puts on her best smile that is entirely fake. Too fake. She knows the feeling of being pregnant and being pregnant with F.P.’s child.

Charles moved so much. Kicked her endlessly. She had the hardest time sleeping for most of her pregnancy. Polly and Betty hardly gave her as much trouble. She almost asks. Almost. Only she can’t bring herself to.

No, she needs to pretend that the only life she’s ever lived is the one she has with Hal. Not a piece of her broken past she keeps to herself. Until she dies, if she has to. 

“Thank you.” Alice speaks, a little too curtly, hands clasped in front of her as Polly walks into the house, but Betty stays giggling with Archie and Jughead.

“No problem.” Gladys dismisses, smiling, looking over at the kids as her hands rest on her stomach. “They’re good girls.”

_Of course they are_ , Alice almost says. Almost. They are Coopers. Perfect girls with the perfect Cooper image. Even as she stands there she is the picture of perfection and will have dinner on the table at six like they do every night. “When are you do?”

Gladys smiles, looking down at her swollen belly. “Another two months.” She looks up at Alice. “All I ever want to eat are those stupid fries from Pop’s. F.P. is nice enough to always get them for me, but I know I’m driving him a little crazy.”

Her smile is even more forced then. Images fill her mind of what F.P. would do. He is that guy, she knows. Gladys isn’t saying it to be nice. She’s saying it because it’s the truth. Nothing more. Nothing less. He would do anything. “It’s what husbands are for.” 

When Betty comes over and tugs at the hem of her sweater for something she’s grateful for the break. Actually manages to say a brief goodbye before walking up the stairs to her house. The red door is a relief and she only briefly looks back to see Gladys taking the boys to the other side of the street.

With the door shut behind her she leans against it and lets out a breath. She feels constricted in her clothing and hates having to see the pieces of his life. From his wife to his son to his unborn child. 

Riverdale isn’t very big but the divide between the Northside and Southside is great.

If only he could keep his family far away from her.

* * *

A few days it’s a knock on her door pulls her from where she’s sitting on the couch and reading through some of her research for something she’s working on. She needs a break regardless. Only, when she opens it she finds herself surprised to see F.P. standing on the other side.

“Mary told me Jug is here.” He gets straight to the point. 

“He’s playing with Betty and Archie.” Alice looks at him and can feel the tension bubbling up. “Usually Gladys picks him up.”

“Not today.” 

Alice moves so he can come in. “Still so sharp.”

F.P. doesn’t reply. 

“She’s pregnant.” Alice doesn’t hesitate as she crosses her arms over her chest.

F.P. just looks at her. “Yeah, I was there.” He says, taking a seat on the arm of the couch. “It’s a girl.”

“Mm, girls are nice.”

“She’s at the doctor.” He explains, just enough to keep the conversation moving and not allowing the silence to capture them. “Don’t worry you have to see me.”

“I wasn’t.” She dismisses. It’s a lie. She is worried about having to see him near constantly. Whenever she sees Gladys she knows F.P. isn’t far behind. Even has taken notice of how much time the two couples spend together. “You didn’t go with her?”

“Routine checkup.” F.P. shrugs as he looks around her living room. “I had to finish up a job with Fred, anyway.”

Alice nods and creates some distance between them. She needs him gone but doesn’t want him to leave. It’s complicated. It was so simple when she was living in her little world with Polly and Betty. Throwing in his kids only makes her mind wander. 

But to his credit he doesn’t bring up anything she’s written about the Southside or the Serpents, nor does he bring up anything between them. Just sits there and breathes a little too loudly in the dead silence of the house. 

Jughead, Betty, and Archie come running through the house, their laughter ringing through the house, just in time to save them from having to speak about anything further. 

“Dad.” Jughead smiles and runs over to him. 

F.P. runs his hand through his son’s dark hair, standing up, as the boy smiles up at him.

“He already had dinner.” She smiles and moves out of the way so they can leave, doing her best to not make it seem like she’s rushing them out. She is but that’s hardly the point.  

“Thanks, Alice.” It’s genuine, just as the smile is. “I owe you.”

She nods because words are too hard as she hears Archie and Betty say their goodbyes. The day the Jones’ are out of her life it’ll be too soon. 

The only trouble is she thinks she’ll be haunted for the rest of her life.

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr.](http://laurelsalexis.tumblr.com/)


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